Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend the SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas with thousands of other tech and social media geeks.
I admit I did a lot of planning before I hopped on my Austin-bound plane. I knew what panels I wanted to see and I had a good idea about the most anticipated parties. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t go in completely unprepared. I might have had a mini panic attack walking into the Convention Center for the first time on Friday if I didn’t do this. Let’s just say no amount of planning can prepare you for the amount of geeks on iphones, QR codes and general awesomeness that you will see in Downtown Austin.
There were several great panels. For me, the absolute highlights were Gary Vaynerchuk’s absolutely epic presentation and Pete Cashmore, Mashable founder, interviewing Dennis Crowley, the founder of Foursquare. These two panels alone made it worth paying $500 for my interactive badge.
That being said, my most memorable experiences didn’t come from my planned events or panels. They came from unplanned activities like grabbing a cocktail with a Twitter buddy, that I have talked to for over a year but never met until now, (shoutout to Aurora Meyer) or having a Mexican lunch and Margaritas with some of the smartest people I’ve ever met (big shoutouts to David Spinks, Teresa Cantwell, Mike Schaffer, Jenna Langer, Jeremy Hicks and Jackie Lampugnano) or just hanging out in the Blogger’s Lounge in between panels. Or, exploring Sixth Street with your Twitter chat co-moderator, who you have only talked to via Skype chats until now. Kudos to Julia Prior. (Somebody, please #hirejulia! She’s uber-talented).
All these events, and many more, weren’t planned, but it’s where I met some of the smartest people and had amazing conversations.
With that, I think the real power of SXSW lies in the connections that you make while you are there. There is simply no other place like Austin in the middle of March.
I would highly recommend attending a SXSW conference. It’s an incredible experience. I know I definitely have plans on coming back.
